This is a discussion on My Revamped Carputer Setup within the Electronics/Car Audio forums, part of the Interior Mods category; I bought a small Motherboard/CPU combo that I got for after rebates that should be decent. Maybe I'll do ...

I bought a small Motherboard/CPU combo that I got for $5 after rebates that should be decent. Maybe I'll do a carputer, but I also need to find a case. Plus, I think I'd line the inside of it with metal or something to prevent electrical interference. I thought I heard somewhere that it's a good idea to do that. Plus I need to find a screen too, hm.

Originally posted by Th3Franz I bought a small Motherboard/CPU combo that I got for $5 after rebates that should be decent. Maybe I'll do a carputer, but I also need to find a case. Plus, I think I'd line the inside of it with metal or something to prevent electrical interference. I thought I heard somewhere that it's a good idea to do that. Plus I need to find a screen too, hm.

I haven't had any issues with interference, though I would recommend making your run to ground as short as possible. I learned the hard way that ground noise can screw up video output, and possibly audio as well.

If I may suggest, for best results use a DC to DC power supply, rather than an inverter that creates 120VAC with the computer plugged into it. I tried the inverter on version 1; it added a lot of noise into the system. Also, it's VERY inefficient.

Originally posted by RayfieldsWRX I haven't had any issues with interference, though I would recommend making your run to ground as short as possible. I learned the hard way that ground noise can screw up video output, and possibly audio as well.

If I may suggest, for best results use a DC to DC power supply, rather than an inverter that creates 120VAC with the computer plugged into it. I tried the inverter on version 1; it added a lot of noise into the system. Also, it's VERY inefficient.

Yeah I'm not surprised that the inverter would cause noise for you. I'll keep that in mind. How big of a DC to DC power supply would you recommend?

Originally posted by Th3Franz Yeah I'm not surprised that the inverter would cause noise for you. I'll keep that in mind. How big of a DC to DC power supply would you recommend?

I'm pretty sure mine is a 120W. It's been quite a while since I purchased it. Works great for me! It's hooked to switched 12V from the car, and I use a momentary pushbutton in my center console to turn the computer on/off. (It's hooked to the on/off contacts on the mainboard.)

Originally posted by RayfieldsWRX I'm pretty sure mine is a 120W. It's been quite a while since I purchased it. Works great for me! It's hooked to switched 12V from the car, and I use a momentary pushbutton in my center console to turn the computer on/off. (It's hooked to the on/off contacts on the mainboard.)

F1CE on this board has a carputer setup similar to yours. he had a plexiglass box custom made with WRX engraved on the top, and he has a blue led on the fan which makes the whole thing glow and look fancy. dont know if you've seen it, but i think he's posted photos of it somewhere. pretty nice. oh yeah he has GPS hooked into it as well...
o-|-<) bryan
p.s. any estimate on how cheaply you could put one of these together? its very cool...

Originally posted by Chunks I have seen many carputers and yours is pretty cool.

Your keyboard on the thingy beats all though.

I have a spare mobo/cpu/hd/etc laying around and I may try this out. I just need a lcd setup that isn't too expensive.

Yeah, the LCD is the only high dollar item in my setup. I know that there are cheaper alternatives that don't include tuner, connectivity to CD changers, etc., but in most cases you have to solve the problem of mounting them.

I failed to mention the rest of my audio components. The computer (and my CD/MP3 changer) feed the Sony mutimedia receiver shown in the pics. The output from the receiver goes to an Alpine V12 amp mounted in my trunk, which drives Infinity Reference speakers up front. The stock rears are driven by the amp in the receiver, and I have preamp output going to a Basslink sub in the trunk.

Originally posted by Wrinkleboi F1CE on this board has a carputer setup similar to yours. he had a plexiglass box custom made with WRX engraved on the top, and he has a blue led on the fan which makes the whole thing glow and look fancy. dont know if you've seen it, but i think he's posted photos of it somewhere. pretty nice. oh yeah he has GPS hooked into it as well...
o-|-<) bryan
p.s. any estimate on how cheaply you could put one of these together? its very cool...

I've seen pics of F1CE's setup; VERY nice. Much more finished looking than mine, actually. My setup's meant to be out of site so I put no time in the appearance. I may need to reread his spec and see how he did his GPS. I'm hankering to get that working.

Like I said in the previous post, the LCD is the tricky part to get cheap. The rest of the stuff is fairly inexpensive. I think I got the mainboard + power supply for < $200. Hard drives are cheap, just depends on how much storage you want. My Epia board uses the standard PC133 memory, which is now pretty cheap. Add $50-60 if you want wireless networking. $30 for the keyboard. That's really about it for the hardware. Errr, no comment on how much software cost me. The MediaEngine software that plays the tunes is free. It's a no-brainer for someone that's already spent the bucks on a stereo with LCD.

vBulletin Message

Errors

The following errors occurred with your submission

Quick Reply

Register Now

Please enter the name by which you would like to log-in and be known on this site.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Email Address:

Please enter a valid email address for yourself. We strongly suggest that you stay away from using aol, yahoo, msn, and hotmail accounts. Sometimes the mail server blocks the emails from our server. As a result you will not receive any notifications including the confirmation email.

Insurance:

Please select your insurance company (Optional)

Log-in

User Name:

Password:

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.